"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Friday, 26 September 2014

Today's news item in Toronto's Mayoralty is the endorsment of John Tory by an organization of Chinese shopkeepers.

By itself that would have been an insult to Olivia Chow. But to add injury to insult a spokesperson
for the group was a shopkeeper who had himself been in the news recently. He was charged with offences Ms. Chow was instrumental in having removed.

Mr. Tory was pleased to have the endorsation.

I think that could be problematic.

The group looked to be no more than seven or eight shopkeepers. It would seem to me the Chinese community in Toronto would be substantially more than that.

Olivia Chow was a Toronto Alderman before she was an M.P. Before she was Jack Layton's wife.
She was small but she was mighty and she had a high profile in the city's politics. It's hard to imagine
considering her ongoing political success that she might have lost the loyalty of the Chinese community. NDP support would likely be substantially augmented by the Chinese community.

The question that comes to mind is....would the Chinese community be represented by the group that endorsed John Tory? Or would they be embarrassed by the betrayal of one of their own?

Also......Olivia is not the person for Tory to beat.

He seems to be acknowledging that when he vows not to attend debates unless Doug Ford is there as well. He's obviously not too concerned about the women's vote.

I think seeking or accepting this endorsement has the potential to cost Tory support.

It's also a surefire indicator that neither Tory nor his team have a sense of voter intuition about what's fair. People have an instinct about stuff like that.

Well y'know he's been in this race before. He lost to Rob Ford last time.

These are early days. The fight has just begun.

There's no sign of urbane finesse in the Ford camp. More like knock 'm down and drag'm out.

I do not think either Mr Tory or Mr Ford actually use public transit. I am from TO and Tory's transit plan proposes to join places that cannot be connected. Mr Ford's material actually could not spell Don Mills and Eglinton, Ms Chow knows the system and has ideas of how to provide the funding that make sense.